War Thunder players have a long history of leaking restricted military files just to win forum arguments against strangers– some might even say it’s become tradition at this point. Well, that tradition is showing no signs of stopping, because another War Thunder player has leaked yet another restricted document about military hardware, and they promptly got banned in-game.
This time around, the military secret that got leaked pertains to the AV-8B Harrier jump jet flight manual. The user, now temporarily banned from War Thunder, uploaded a section of the NATOPS manual for the AV-8B and TAV-8B Harrier, notably used by the US Navy and Marine Corps. Thankfully, the documents are not exactly classified and only restricted, falling under Distribution Statement C, meaning they’re not approved for public release and might not carry enough legal repercussion for the careless player who uploaded them.
The new leak marks the 9th time a military secret has been leaked in the War Thunder forums. Most of the leaks happened because the players were debating about the performance of the in-game vehicles, and some wanted to prove their point, even if it meant leaking state secrets.
“This probably isn’t the biggest leak ever, not at all. These kinds of manuals float around online, especially older ones. But that doesn’t change the fact that if it’s marked as controlled or restricted, platforms like War Thunder have no choice but to take action,” says a former RAF engineer, transcript courtesy of UK Defence Journal.
Some of the more notable leaks were for military vehicles such as the UK’s Challenger 2 main battle tank, France’s Leclerc, China’s ZTZ-99, the Eurocopter Tiger, F-16, F-15E, F-117, and the Eurofighter Typhoon. Of course, the majority of the leaks were for US military vehicles.
It Just Keeps Happening
For those who are unaware, War Thunder is an ultra-realistic military simulator MMO game that covers the mechanized aspects of modern warfare. It allows players to control tanks, planes, ships, and other vehicles in large-scale team-based battles. The game thus uses the actual names, models, and performance of real-life military vehicles as reference.
Some players suspect that some of the leakers themselves work for military agencies or contractors, which could explain why they have access to such documents. Others have explained that certain files are already available online even though they’re just marked as restricted by the US Department of Defense, as in the case of the recent Harrier leak.
The most obvious assumption, however, is that War Thunder players are simply too passionate about their military vehicles and the game’s adherence to realism. While the leaks often don’t have tactical or strategic value, plenty of War Thunder players still find these events hilarious, considering how often they keep happening.
“So, someone explain to me how this keeps happening. Are the people posting classified material just dumb people with access to the material through the nature of their occupation, or is there a black market for selling classified info to War Thunder players with an obsession for realism? Or something else?,” asks MyUsernameIsAwful
“Sigh, i’ll go reset the ‘days until warthunder leaks’ counter,” says TXblindman
“Autism knows no bounds,” suggests ggbouffant
